


Mechanical Heart

by princessofkittens



Category: Fallout - Fandom, Fallout 4, The Institute, The railroad - Fandom, bethesda - Fandom, synths - Fandom
Genre: I honestly don’t know what to put as tags for this, but I hope y’all enjoy this, im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22605376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessofkittens/pseuds/princessofkittens
Summary: Days in the Commonwealth tend to pass the same. I wake up, I make breakfast for myself and Pops, then we go out and tend to the farm until evening. Sometimes we have the occasional raider trouble, and once a feral ghoul found its way to our farm, but for the most part our days are peaceful.It's just Pops and I on our farm, and our Brahmin of course, I'd never left the farm before and I never really thought about it either. I've always been content where I was, I never imagined one day my life would be uprooted.But then the strangers came, the men in dark coats who talked so mechanically, and I lost everything dear to me.--------------------------A FALLOUT 4 FANFICTION
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Mechanical Heart

Knock knock 

I stirred in my sleep, what is that sound? I wondered. 

Knock knock knock knock

It got louder, more rapid. I opened my eyes, the room was almost completely dark. I knew it wasn’t daylight, because sunlight would have shone through the cracks in the wall.

The knocking continued as I sat up, and put my slippers on. I loved my slippers dearly, Pops bought them from a trader years ago, he said they were Pre-war, you know before the bombs fell, and they were amazingly preserved. They were white and fluffy, and ever so soft. 

“By order of the Institute open this door now and you will not be harmed.” A voice rang through the house, clear and loud. It sounded as if the owner of it was right in front of me, the power it seemed to command had me sitting back down. 

I was frightened, the voice sounded so familiar. But I knew I’d never heard it before, I couldn’t have. With a shaky sigh I got up and walked out of my room, I saw Pops in the hallway with his shotgun. “Pops, who’s—“ he cut me off, “You’ve got to get out of here Elise.”

I stared at him, his face was hard, I’d never seen him look so stern. He looked afraid and angry at the same time, his arms shook. “Pops please, what’s going on?” 

“I wish I could explain, but I can’t. It’s too late.” He shook his head, his eyes glossing over with tears. He rubbed his eyes with his fist and sighed, giving me a sad sort of smile, “Here,” he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, “take this.”

I took the paper from him, I began to open it but he stopped me, “Not yet, you need to go, take my pistol and the money I’ve been saving.” 

“But Pops—“ Again I was cut off, “Don’t argue with me sweetie, just do as I say.”

I swallowed hard, I didn’t know what was happening, I just knew Pops was scared and I’d never seen him scared before. Before I could respond the front door came crashing down, and in marched three men dressed in dark coats carrying odd looking weapons. Pops and I could see them from where we were on the second floor but they didn’t seem to have noticed us yet. He pushed me behind him and whispered, “Go.” 

“I love you.” I whispered, before I went into his room closing the door behind me, and did as I was told. First I went into the drawer by his bed and grabbed his pistol, and the box of ammo that was beside it. Then I picked up his mattress and grabbed the bag of caps he’d been saving up since forever. And finally I grabbed one of his big coats. I stood there a moment as I put the coat on, I could hear his footsteps on the stairs. I heard him pump his shotgun before he called out to the intruders, “Just what do you think you’re doing in my house?”

“Doctor Martin, you are under arrest for stealing Institute secrets and property, tell us where the prototype is.” 

I didn’t understand what the intruder was saying, but Pops replied, “Either you leave now or you have about five seconds before I pump your synthetic ass full of lead.” 

I heard scuffling and a thud, and a grunt of pain that could have only belonged to Pops. I felt powerless as I listened. Then I heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs, I knew they didn’t belong to Pops. 

“Run!” Pops shouted, his voice full of pain. A bright red light suddenly filled the hall and shone from under the door. I stepped back and looked around, oh God what am I supposed to do? 

Then I saw the window by his dresser. I walked over to it and looked out. The drop looked scary, but I had a feeling that whoever coming up those stairs would be scarier. I gathered all my courage and opened the window, I put one leg over the windowsill and swung the other over, and when I heard the doorknob twisting I knew there was no turning back. I flung myself out of the window, it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, and I helped birth a Brahmin once. The fall didn’t last as long as I thought, but all I could think as I rushed to the ground was, is this the end? 

It wasn’t. I hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to be hurt. I stood up and I looked back. A man stood in the window. I started running, as fast as I could. I ran afraid to look back, afraid to stop. Every time I thought of stopping I imagined the man from the window coming out of the darkness and grabbing me, and I’d only run faster. 

I ran without food or drink, I ran without rest until daybreak. I was lucky I didn’t run into any more trouble, but I didn’t know where I was going. I had nowhere to go. It had always been me and Pops, and now I’m alone. 

I finally stopped, feeling the weight of all that had happened. I leaned against a tree as tears blurred my vision. My sobs came out in quiet gasps, I was still afraid to be found. I slid down the tree, bringing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. I buried my face in my knees and cried. Pops was gone, I know the red light I saw was some kind of weapon, and I know that nobody could have gotten past him if he wasn’t. He was the only person I had, he raised me, he took care of me, he loved me. And now he was gone. And it was my fault. Because he‘d been protecting me. 

“Tell us where the prototype is.” I could hear the intruder’s voice in my ears, but what did they mean? What prototype? What was the Institute? And why did they call him “doctor Martin” he was just a farmer, he was just Pops. They had to have the wrong place, the wrong people. It had to be a mistake. 

“I wish I could explain, but I can’t. It’s too late.” Pops had said to me, but his words didn’t make any sense either. 

I started to wipe my eyes on his coat sleeve, but when I caught the scent on it hot tears spilled forth again. It smelled like dirt and tatos, like Brahmin, and like the whiskey he used to drink to celebrate a good harvest. In short, it smelled like home. Like Pops. 

I don’t know how long I stayed like that, sitting at the base of a tree crying into my knees holding the coat sleeve to my face, I just know that when I finally stopped, my head throbbed and the sun was much higher in the sky. I smiled sadly at that, the land looked so messed up but the sky above always looked beautiful. It was the only thing that didn’t get ruined in the war Pops would say. He used to take me outside on slow days, he’d lay a blanket down and we’d watch the clouds roll by. He used to say that no matter how uncertain life got, you could always count on one thing to be the same, the sky. No matter where you were or who you were, the sky looked the same for us all, and it’d always be there watching over us. It always gave me a sense of comfort before, and now it seemed to give me strength. I knew I had to keep going, it’s what Pops wanted, it’s why he saved me.

I remembered the paper he gave me then, before my escape, and I began to search my pockets for it. When I found it I pulled it out and opened it. It was hastily written but I could still read it:

Follow the Freedom Trail to the Old North Church - Ask for Desdemona

She’ll take care of you.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for choosing my story to read! I hope it was enjoyable! I wrote it all in my notes so I’m sorry if the format is a bit weird? But anyway, I won’t talk your ear off. I just wanted to say thank you for reading my story, please let me know what you thought in the comments! There may be more to come in the future, but I don’t know. 🤗


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